- crayons
- glue
- large straight pieces cut from colored poster board
- letter card “Xx”
- markers
- paper fasteners
- play tools (include hammer)
- tool
MA Standards:
English Language Arts/Foundational Skills/RF.PK.MA.1.d Recognize and name some uppercase letters of the alphabet and the lowercase letters in one’s own name.
Head Start Outcomes:
Literacy Knowledge/Alphabet Knowledge Recognizes that the letters of the alphabet are a special category of visual graphics that can be individually named.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 7 Develop familiarity with the forms of alphabet letters, awareness of print, and letter forms.
Learn About Letters Together: Construct the Letter “X”
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
ELA Focus Skills: Fine Motor Skills, Letter Formation, Letter Recognition
Show children the letter card “Xx,” the pieces of poster board, and the fasteners. Say, Let’s construct the letter “Xx” using these pieces of poster board and these tools. Does anyone have any ideas of how we could do it?
Guide children as they work. Show them how to use the fasteners to connect two pieces of poster board. Ask them what tools they might use to “secure” the fasteners. Say, What kind of tool might we use to make sure our “X” stays together? Encourage children to think of the tools and their uses, and guide them to use the hammer to “nail” the two parts of their “X” together.
After children have finished constructing their “X”s, have them decorate the letters. Ask them to trace the letter outline with their fingers as they talk about their designs.